Spherical solar energy collector made by Rawlemon

According to its vision, the German architect Andre Broessel said that the future will be not only green, but transparent. He and his Rawlemon company have a solution that can “squeeze more juice out of the sun”.

He projected a spherical solar energy collector, a prototype called beta.ray. Its technology combines spherical geometry principles with a tracking system that use a smaller surface area of a conventional solar panel by yielding parameters. It collects even low light energy and transforms it than into electricity, but most important is that harvest solar energy and thermal power, the same time. More than that, it is fully rotational and suitable to be placed on inclined surfaces, on top of buildings or other sunny places. With a little imagination many new usage can be found.

The greatest sustainable source of energy on earth remains the sun. More than 80% of solar panels worldwide have a performance of 15% and when they are not tracked with the sun lose more than 70% of that solar energy. The beta.ray use physical principle discovered by Archimedes which shows that when a crystal lens is exposed to the sun energy, it concentrates incoming (energy of) light to a focal point. The design of the Rawlemon, its perfect geometry and the patented dual axis tracking system provides the optimum angle to better convert the light all day long, in fact travelling with the sun.

The immediate benefits that make the difference when compare it to ordinary solar panel are the following:
– up to 95% more solar energy conversion using the solar tracking system in North European region;
– 15% more yield improvement by spherical lens concentration of solar energy;
– at least minimum 75% less solar panel surface necessary for conversion the solar energy;
– lowest carbon footprint;
– no weather impact and maximum 99% transparency.

Each type is built by an Acrylic Polymer ball lens filled with water. The one with 1.8 m diameter has inside 3055 litres of water and can supply 560 Watt (220W/square meter) electrical data and 890 Watt (350W/Square meter) thermal data, on average per day 3.4 KWh.

How the solar energy collector works?

Spherical solar energy collector operating scheme

The immediate impact and usability should make us interested about it. It can be integrated by architects in different types of street design projects or ecological design. One of the immediate of Rawlemon products usages is an outdoor Mobile Stand Alone Power Generators Station.

The model KS1000-1800 station is designed for off grid conditions as well as to supplement buildings’ consumption of electricity and thermal circuits like hot water. It operates at efficiency levels of nearly 57% in hybrid mode and with few LEDs can illuminate its location.

Beta.ray 1.0-1.8 model comes with a hybrid collector that charge and stores solar energy and thermal energy. It can be used to supply electricity to electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, electric cars, building integration, electric devices.

“MicroTrack combine three products – a revolutionary concentrator photovoltaic, a full transparent ball lens screen with multimedia wall, and a breakthrough, micro dual-axis tracking unit assembled with Multi –Junction high efficiency solar cells – into one full building integrated photovoltaic module.”

This project is a challenge. My worried is about the worst scenario of unknown events. They made tests and each model resist to a speed wind up to 120 m/s that should be all right.